The Treasurer Joe Hockey’s ‘no surprises’ Federal Budget involves limited superannuation and taxation changes, with a number of key measures having been announced prior to Budget night. Of note is the Government’s announcement that it will reform a number of family assistance measures, as well as the means test for the Age Pension.

NAB has commissioned a study from Rice Warner which crunched numbers from APRA and the ATO that shows that Self Managed Super funds outperformed during the period 2005 to 2012, where returns were 7.7% for SMSFs and 4.9% for the rest of the industry.

Financials currently make up about 40% of the Australian ASX 200 market index. Since self managed super funds are commonly used to invest in direct shares it is crucial to get a clear understanding of the risk your super fund is exposed to should it hold a substantial amount of its capital invested in Australian shares.

The global banking regulator (Basel Committee on Banking Supervision ) is of the view that Australia’s banking regulator (APRA) lenient treatment of investment property loans means its five largest banks aren’t holding as much as capital against these assets as they should be. 

 

The latest research report by HSBC into Australian property shows that current Australian property ownership levels among wealth Chinese investors is actually quite low relative to investors from other Asian countries.

According to recent research by Rice warner actuaries and Vanguard, 97% of trustees that are retired and own a self-managed super fund are concerned about their investments and risks associated with their share market investments.